What is Needed for Supplements and Vitamins

With constant messages and studies that contradict each other, it is no wonder patients are confused about vitamins and what is needed to stay healthy.  While most supplements cause no harm, except to the wallet, people do sometimes forgo needed good health habits with the erroneous assumption that they are doing the right thing by popping lots of vitamin pills.  Based on current research, here

Breast Milk Ice Cream - FAIL

Say it isn't true! A restaurant in London is planning on serving breast milk ice cream called "Baby Gaga".  The expensive treat will cost £14 pounds ($23 US dollars) a serving. Where does this breast milk come from?  Mothers answered an ad that was placed online and are selling their milk to the restaurant for £15 pounds for every 10 ounces of milk.

One of the donating mothers said she believes

Ex-Convict Sisters Can't Share Kidney Because of Obesity

I posted before about the bizarre case of two sisters who had spent 16 years in prison for stealing $11 from two men.  They were sentenced to two life terms in prison for the robbery until Tennessee Gov. Hailey Barbour granted Jamie Scott an early release because of kidney failure that cost the State $200,000 a year for dialysis.  He also released her sister, Gladys on the condition that she

Animal Testing

Medicare Scammers Busted

I am always happy when I read about fraudulent doctors, nurses and businessmen getting busted.  Medicare is, unfortunately, a program that lends itself to crooks.  The more of these crooks that get prosecuted and sent to jail, the happier I am.  Each of these busts should be made public.  This time Federal authorities have charged over 100 doctors, nurses and physical therapists with massive

White Coat Hypertension

"But doc, my blood pressure is always normal at home."  I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard that line and I know it is true.  When some patients come to see me, their blood pressure is abnormally high (above 130/90) and this is known as "white coat hypertension."  Although it has been thought to be from anxiety about seeing the doctor, even long established patients who have no

Ganglion Cyst

At least once every quarter, for all of the years I have been in practice, I see a patient with a swelling on their wrist, ankle or foot.  This common problem is a ganglion cyst.  These cysts are located on tendons and occasionally are tender but more often just seem to develop painlessly for no reason.  The tendon sheath may rupture suddenly or slowly and allow the fluid to bulge out.  The

Health Care Costs Too Much

Almost every day I hear a story about health care that makes me cringe. (I also hear good stories about health care, but that is another post)  Today while buying a pair of shoes, the sales clerk told me how upset she was that a chest X-ray cost her $350.00.  That amount is her portion...she has insurance and the full charge was over $800.  She wishes she would have known the cost and said,  "I

Nursing Shortage Big Disconnect

With the aging of America, it is well known that there will be a shortage of registered nurses and nurse aids to take care of the population.   It is predicted that the shortage of nurses to take care of people will climb to 80,000 by 2015 in California.  California has just 653 registered nurses employed per 100,000 people.  One of the problems is a lack of qualified faculty to teach at Nursing

Big Changes in Breast Cancer Care

I always say that medicine is a dynamic changing field and today's JAMA study on the standard practice of removing lymph nodes in women with cancer is flipping medicine on it's head.  For over 100 years, the standard practice has been to remove cancerous lymph nodes in early stage breast cancer.  It has been common practice to sample these nodes and remove them if there was any evidence of cancer

Vote for Everythinghealth

If you are reading this, I hope you will click here and cast your vote at MedGadget for EverythingHealth in the category of "2010 Best Ethics/Health Policy Weblog".  I am honored to be a finalist and am trailing in the votes (sob!) so your support is appreciated.  Vote now.
Thank you!

The management

A Marathon a Day for 365 Days

I would not have believed it was possible, but Stefaan Engels, a 49 year old Belgian man has run his 365th marathon in 365 days.  Mr. Engels has set a new record after running 9,569 miles across seven countries.  He finished his final race in Barcelona, Spain. He ran races in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Canada, Mexico and the U.S.

Stefaan Engels also holds the world record for completing

What Doctors Want Patients to Know

Consumer Reports surveyed 660 primary care physicians about what they wish their patients knew and what they faced as professional challenges.  Some of the highlights are:
Doctors believed forming a long term relationship with the primary care physician is the most important thing a patient can do to obtain better medical care.  They believe continuity is really undervalued and patients who

Norovirus Stomach Flu

After spending a weekend in bed with self diagnosed Norovirus,  I thought the information would make a great post. Norovirus is a contagious virus that causes sudden onset of nausea, vomiting, headache, body ache and feeling very very sick.  It strikes 12-48 hours after exposure, either by ingesting contaminated food or water or close contact with someone who has the virus.  When you hear of a

Stroke Patients Stop Taking Medicine

A study published in the Archives of Neurology reported that a quarter of patients who have a stroke stopped taking their medication within 3 months of hospital discharge.  These medications were meant to be prevention for future strokes.  With 180,000 recurrent strokes occurring in the U.S. each year, that is an astonishing number of patients who stop their prevention meds.  Also,  the

Women Doctors are Paid Less Than Men

A new study published in Health Affairs reports that female doctors fresh out of training are paid significantly less than their male counterparts.  The gender gap has been getting worse since 1999 and is now $16,819, up from $3,600 in 1999.   Readers, we are definitely going the wrong way here!  Women doctors are being paid less than men.

The widening pay gap cannot be attributed to the

Blog Award Nominee for EverythingHealth

I am happy to announce that EverythingHealth has been nominated and is a finalist for the MedGadget blog award in the category of "Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog" for 2010.  The other blogs in my category are outstanding and the competition is tough...but that is a good thing and I am honored to even be mentioned with these prestigious writers.

Check out some of the other categories too. 

Sex in Pregnancy is Safe

The Canadian Medical Association Journal has published a new primer designed to help physicians when they counsel pregnant women.  They note that sex during pregnancy is normal and is generally considered safe.  The authors point out that there are very few proven contraindications and risks regarding intercourse in normal pregnancy.

Pregnant women and their partners are often afraid to have sex